To Love, Loyalty, and Fairy Tail
by horsez2
Summary: A Jerza Fanfiction with a devastating twist. PLEASE Leave comments and suggestions to improve on future chapters! New chapters should be up once every week!
1. Chapter 1

The closet was half empty; only men's clothes and hangers remained. A large suitcase was placed on the bed filled to the brim with all types of women's clothes, two men's shirts that were wrinkled but neatly folded on top.

"Jellal?!" A woman's voice called from the kitchen.

"Yes?" Jellal had answered from the living room in an exasperated tone.

The woman dressed in armor that was recently shines had the cabinets open with various snacks strewn across the counter as if they had been thrown blindly onto it.

"Should I bring snacks along?" She asked hurriedly and innocently as her habit of overpacking isn't apparent to her.

"No, Erza. They'll provide meals and you can probably find food in the hotel." He says in a calm, reassuring voice.

"Alright," Erza says reluctantly and puts the snacks back in their respective spots in the cabinets as quickly as she had dug them out. She walks into the living room and stops a few feet from the middle of the entrance to the room looking at the packing job intently.

"What is it?" Jellal asks walking up behind her.

"I believe I have all that I need." She spoke under to her breath to herself, but it was loud enough for Jellal to hear.

"Yes, you do." He said evenly

She stared at the pile a few more moments in a daze before she suddenly broke it and turned to him and exclaimed, "Yus!"

She walked past Jellal and down the hallway into the bedroom that they shared and forced her last suitcase to close before rolling it to the rest of the suitcases in the living room. After placing it among the others, she re-quipped into her Heart Kreuz pajamas and unceremoniously plopped onto the couch and sighed.

Jellal had been keeping clear of Erza's way, knowing it was unwise to interfere when she was preparing for a trip. His face usually soft around Erza was hardened. His muscles were tense forcing his face into an emotionless state, except for the slight downturn of the corners of his mouth. Erza had noticed this but did not outwardly acknowledge it until she was sure that she was ready for her job. She turned her head around to look at him.

"What's wrong Jellal?"

"Hm?" He said as if he wasn't sure what she was referring to, but he had a certain rigidity to his tone that suggested otherwise. "Nothing's wrong." He tried to soften his tone to seem as though he was being truthful but Erza knew him much better than to fall for his poor attempts at lying to her. Erza raised her eyebrows slightly and upturned one corner of her mouth, letting him know she knew he was trying to deceive her. Jellal sighed knowing he had failed and walked the rest of the way into the living room and lightly sat down on the couch on the complete opposite side from Erza. He leaned back into the corner of the end of the couch, extending his arms onto the armrest and the back of the couch.

"…I don't want you to leave for your job…" He finally admitted in an embarrassed sigh looking at the space of couch in-between their bodies.

"Oh Jellal…" Erza said a smile forming on her face as she said that and moved closer to him taking him into her arms effortlessly. It was as if her body knew exactly where and how to hold him to comfort him. "I know you don't, but I have to go." She said in a sweet whisper to her child-like lover.

He just sighs in response and leans his weight into her.

"It's only nine days and I will find time to talk with you, I promise." She said in the same whisper running her hands through his hair slowly.

"It's not the same…" He whines.

"I'll miss you too." She smiles and answers.

They both pause in silence for a minute enjoying the warmth of each other's touch.

"Just don't get sick or injured or do anything stupid while I'm gone. Okay?" She says in a motherly tone.

"Alright." He answers obediently.

She kisses the top of his head and slowly lowers their bodies horizontally on the couch. His head lands on her chest as they lay back and they intertwine their legs. They laid like this for mere moments before a communications lacrima pinged with the tone of an incoming call. Erza sighed and sat up removing Jellal from her chest and placing his head into her lap as she took the lacrima from the waistband of her pajamas and answered it. Loud shouts in the background were drowning out the words of a terrified Wendy pleading for Erza to come to the guild and break up a fight that had started.

"I have to take care of this while Master is away." She sighed.

"I'll come with you."

"No, the last thing I need is another person to deal with." She said a bit too harshly.

Jellal looked down and got off Erza's lap and freed his legs from hers so she could easily get up. She left quietly closing the front door before she re-quipped black winged armor and flapped her wings hard taking off toward the guild arriving there in less than ninety seconds.

When she arrived, she landed quietly and then beat her wings as hard as she could without taking off the ground slamming the large guild doors open. The whole guild fell silent and stared wide-eyed at the now open doors except for two members who continued bickering in the center of the guild. Everyone else parted a path for Erza to the center wordlessly. As they parted, a pink haired boy covered in flame and a black-haired boy with a large hammer of ice in his hands were bickering with their foreheads pressed against each other, still oblivious to Erza's presence.

"Hot Head!"

"Ice Heart!"

"Take that back!"

Erza calmly and slowly entered the guild her eyes slowly turning a deep red that matched her hair. She became engulfed in a red aura that surrounded the outline of her body contrasting the jet-black armor that shone with a semi-gloss finish on the metal alloy. As Erza reached the halfway point to the two mages, they simultaneously noticed the strong magic that radiated near them and they ceased bickering and turned slowly away from each other to the demon like creature approaching them. Upon registering what they were seeing, they shuddered as their faces filled with dread and they fell to their knees pleading for forgiveness through the stuttering of apologies. Erza did not break her calm demon like walk toward them until she landed a yard from them stopping abruptly letting her foot fall harder onto the ground which made the boys before her jump in fear. They stutter as their voices raise tone in pleading apologies but Erza continues forward and bangs their heads together, knocking them both out.

The guild was silent, a feather could hit the ground and it would be heard, as Erza picked the two boys up carefully placing them over her shoulder and placing them into beds in the infirmary down the hallway. She tucked them in gingerly and returned to the guildhall stopping to face everyone as they fearfully stared at her.

"Any other problems?" She asked calmly a commanding air to her voice.

She is answered by nervous head shakes of no.

"I have an early departure tomorrow. I demand that there be no more interruptions tonight. Understood?"

Everyone nods yes, and she walks out with the same pace that she had walked in with her aura disappearing as she left. She closed the large doors gingerly behind her. She continued into town until she arrived at her usual bakery. She walked inside and was greeted cheerily by the baker who owned the shop.

"Ah! Erza! How many cakes today?" He smiled.

"Just one piece today." She said smirking.

"One piece?! Are you ill?" He asked genuinely concerned earning a chuckle from Erza.

"No, I leave for an S-Class mission tomorrow. I only require one piece for breakfast."

"Oh, Okay then. One piece of strawberry cake it is!" He said as he moved to the display case slicing a piece of a strawberry cake for her and boxing it neatly before handing it to her. She hands him the appropriate amount of payment and leaves with a small wave goodbye before she opens the door and walks out into the street. She effortlessly flew up into the air flying over the town and over the beginning of the woods seeing the trees that were beginning to bloom with spring flowers.

'It's beautiful here…Jellal would enjoy this.' She thought to herself as she watched the different colors of the tree blossoms pass quickly under her, blurring together in a beautiful display of color.

\- END OF CHAPTER 1-


	2. Chapter 2

Meanwhile back at Erza's house, Jellal was scheming to keep Erza home. He was desperate for her attention particularly lately. He had avoided her for a long time after the end of their last battle and his official pardon. He had felt as if still he was not worthy of her and Erza had simply waited for him to show up as he had always seemed to do throughout the years. As a year went by Jellal had found that he had spent most of his time thinking of her, her hair, her kindness to him, her purity. He was almost always found completely dead to the world in the living area of Crime Sorcière's small guild. He would attempt to meditate to push the thought of her away, but it only brought more sensations onto him. Finally, his comrades had pushed him to go to her and talk to her at the very least, even if he failed to confess to her. He appeared as he always did, silently, at her window one-night floating in the air with meteor. Erza had, of course, felt his magic approach and was unstartled as she set down her brush and walked over, unlocking the window to let him inside her room at Fairy Hills.

"You know men aren't allowed in the dormitory, Jellal." She said calmly

"I know." He said back matching her tone before relaxing his even tone allowing his emotions to flow into them. "But there is something I need to talk to you about," He said with a sigh.

Erza looked at him curiously and motioned for him to follow sensing that this must be a rather long discussion. She sat down on her couch in the next room and Jellal followed not more than a foot behind her. She looked intently into his eyes. She had always loved how his eyes had such an even dark color that still seemed to portray so much depth, unlike most people with deep dark colored eyes.

"What is on your mind Jellal?" She asks in a soft tone attempting to relieve the stress he is showing in his stiff movements and fidgeting of his hands with his cloak.

Jellal sighs and takes a deep breath suddenly unsure of how to recite everything he had carefully practiced saying.

"I'm sorry," Is what came out of his mouth first. He paused before continuing knowing she would ask what he was exactly sorry for, he had so much to be sorry for anyway. "I'm sorry. I never came to see you all this time." He clarified each word stumbling clumsily out of his mouth pouring from his heart without filtering through his brain first. "I'm sorry for leaving you every time and lying to you. I just… I just don't deserve you Erza. You're so beautiful, intelligent, strong, brave, pure, and so much more. You're the light in my world Erza. You're the only reason I still keep living sometimes." He begins to speak quickly as if his mouth cannot keep up with the emotions he wants to convey with his words. "I don't deserve a woman like you Erza. I'm afraid that I will drag you down or ruin you. I'm afraid that you will not want to stay with me if you get to see every part of me. I can't be the one to ruin the light that you are, Erza. I can't be the one to hurt you more than I already have succeeded in doing. I just can't…" He hangs his head his bangs covering his eyes as they tear up slightly with all the emotions he's pent up inside for years pouring out. "I love you too much Erza…" He says shakily beginning to cry.

Erza simply smiles and gets up walking to the man on the opposite of the couch who looks more like a lonely child now. She kneels down and takes her hand under his chin slowly lifting it to look into her brown eyes. His were red now. Tears stained his pale cheeks and his hair was disheveled. She looked at him caringly.

"You're not a dark person Jellal. You'll see that yourself one day. You won't ruin me. We will improve each other and grow together. Don't be sorry for anything anymore; do something so you won't halve to be." She said softly as she wiped the tears from his face gently with her thumb.

He looked into her eyes getting lost in them as he wondered how she could be so kind to him and he realized that even if he didn't feel like he deserved her or not, he could not live without her any longer. The distance he created between them drove him mad. He just couldn't be without this woman.

"Erza, I love you… I always have." He said in a strong, deep voice.

She smiled lightly.

"So have I, Jellal." She answered

He leaned down and closed his eyes and their lips connected in a moment of bliss. They released them and stared into each other's eyes for a long time before connecting them again, more passionately this time. The night slowly turned into morning and the light shined through the open window onto the couch where the red hair and blue hair mixed together seemed to make purple in the morning light.

\- END OF CHAPTER 2-


	3. Chapter 3

He had only moved in with Erza a few weeks before and was not ready to let her leave the safety of his protection. He just got the one he loved all to himself and he was afraid to lose that. Jellal sighed as he heard Erza land outside with no plan to keep her home. He sat defeated on the couch attempting to hide his contempt for himself and the job. Erza walked back inside and put the cake in the fridge before re-quipping back down into her pajamas and joining Jellal on the couch, laying her head in his lap. He placed his hand on her head and stroked it gently.

"What is it Erza?" He asked in his deep, strong voice.

"Nothing." She said evenly. "Just need to get some rest."

"Alright… get some rest." He said pulling the blanket that lay over the back of the couch over Erza's body and letting her fall to sleep in his lap. He watched her for an hour or so before he gently moved himself from under her head and stood up. He knelt down and slowly slid his arms under the back of her knees and her upper back lifting her and quickly supporting her head with the crook of his shoulder. He slowly walked to their bedroom carrying her bridal style. As he slowly laid her into bed she awoke slightly.

"Jellal?" She asked groggily.

"I'm just putting you in bed. Goodnight Erza. I love you." He said in a voice as thick and sweet as honey.

"I…" was all Erza was able to get out of her mouth before Jellal's body turned a pale grey and his skin began to crack into irregularly shaped pieces like soil in a drought. The cracks were a deep black with red edges. Each crack began to crack into smaller cracks that slowly disintegrated his body. It started first at his feet and worked its way through each layer of skin, muscle, and bone all the way up his body until every part of his body except his head that fell off the shoulder's into Erza's chest was black dust that covered her body. As she held his head the house began to disassemble in a similar way. Erza held the head close as a shrill scream emanated from it for what seemed like hours as the house fell around them into dust and Jellal's head disintegrated with it slower than the rest of his body dragging the pain out. As the house finally fell to complete dust and Jellal's eyes had left his face the shrill scream filled the air in the darkness that laid outside the house.

Erza awoke with a pained scream and quickly threw her hands over her mouth to stifle it once she realized she was not in the place of her dreams, hoping to not wake the others. Her pajamas were soaked in sweat and her hair and face were covered in a sheen of it that sparkled in the glow of the moonlight that slipped through the slats of metal that covered the window. Her heart was pounding out of her chest and she began to hyperventilate. Unable to get her breathing under control, she began to gasp signaling quiet, stifled sobs.

'Dammit, Jellal. Why do you still torture me? Why did you have to leave so soon? I just got you back...' She cursed him in her thoughts as she sobbed harder.

'We had each other's backs. We had a future together. I…I won't be whole without you anymore! God Dammit Jellal!'

She sobbed harder until she couldn't breathe anymore. Her body desperately gasped for air while her sobs forced her muscles to expel whatever she was able to inhale. The violent forced, unsynchronized contractions of her muscles in her chest finally overtook her body and she leaned over the side of the bed and her body betrayed her further expelling bile from her stomach. She hadn't eaten for two days, there was nothing left as her body dry heaved over the side of the bed attempting to correct her breathing and heart rate.

In the room adjacent to Erza, Juvia was sleeping with Gray. She had heard Erza's scream. She jolted awake expecting danger hearing such a pained scream come from someone so strong. Gray awoke when Juvia did and they exchanged saddened glances in the dark. Juvia heard Erza sob but knew it was better to leave her alone to cry than to approach her. Gray began to get up but Juvia simply laid her hand on Gray's keeping him there. Juvia laid back down staring at the ceiling listening to the Queen of the Fairies being reduced to sobs. Each sob that escaped Erza's mouth seemed to travel straight into Juvia's ears and echo inside her head increasing the intensity of it all. As much as it hurt her heart to hear her cry she laid there giving Erza her space until she heard her begin to retch bile. She calmly rose from her bed and placing her hand on Gray's again when he attempted to follow her out of bed. This was something she would have to do alone with Erza.

Juvia quietly opened and closed the door of the small bedroom behind her and walked silently a few feet down the dark hallway that was lit only by the moonlight the filtered through the metal slats of the open room at the very end of it. She reached Erza's door and opened it and closed it quietly. She grabbed a waste can nearby and placed it into Erza's shaking hands as her body continued to try to right itself. Juvia simply sat on the side of the bed next to her and held her hair and rubbed her back in light, slow circles until she had regained her composure. Erza's body rejected life for a few minutes before she finally gasped in one last time and began to breathe normally. Her body shook with exhaustion and she began to fall back onto the bed. Juvia set her down gently taking the waste can away setting it on the floor.

"Erza, you haven't eaten in two days. It'll just keep getting worse." Juvia said softly but sternly.

"How can it get any worse Juvia? Even death would be better than this." Erza said with a dark impulsivity.

Juvia was taken aback by this before becoming angry with her.

"Is this any way for a member, let alone the Master of Fairy Tail, to live? You are supposed to live for your friends." Juvia said in a raised tone before pausing, contemplating whether she should continue. Her tone softened and quieted. "Jellal would be enraged to see you acting like this." She softened her voice more now, it rang with care and compassion rather than anger. "He wouldn't have wanted this, Erza."

Erza remained quiet turning her head away in shame as Juvia stood up to leave the room. Juvia's hand reached for the door handle only to be interrupted by Erza's quiet voice.

"You're right. I'm sorry Juvia. I didn't mean that. I know that I have to live for you all. I want to live for you all. I lost my head for a moment." She said genuinely sorry. "He makes me so weak…" She whispered her eyes tearing up again.

"It's not a weakness to cry, Erza. You know that. None of us see you as anything less for it." She said softly before quietly exiting the room and returning to her own. Juvia had learned over the years that sometimes it was better to leave Erza to process advice and make it her own, otherwise, matters can be worse for the both of them.

Erza laid awake all night. She kept herself awake to avoid the nightmares that lay in waiting for her sleeping mind, as they had every day since the day that no one in this unfamiliar house dares to mention. Her heavy eyes threatened to close, and her consciousness was being pulled down by the calming tendrils of sleep. She hadn't obtained a measurable amount of consecutive sleep in two days. Her body was reaching its limits of how much it could take; she knew it and still fought against it. She fought against the primal urges to sleep all night to avoid the nightmares that pained her. She kept herself awake thinking about Juvia's advice, Jellal's words, and even her own words. Just when she would resolve to begin to move on, something dark inside her mind seemed to pull it back under a pit of tar where it would not surface again. It seemed as if as the night lost its blackness and turned into light, Erza's mind lost its light and turned into the blackness that had kept her company all night.

\- END OF CHAPTER 3-


	4. Chapter 4

The morning sun rose completely before Erza forced her weakened body to sit up and stand. Although she moved very slow, her muscles and her skin ached with each movement as if she was tearing herself apart from the inside out with each small movement. Her body was wrapped in bandages from her head to her toes. The once white bandages were soaked through with blood and signs of various stages of infection. Her face was sunken and dark circles held down the skin under her eyes like concave ridges of a quarry. Her skin was pale with anemia and her cheeks flush with fever. As she had finally stood, lost her vision and balance, and regained it once more she slowly glanced out the slats covering the window seeing the bright orange sun that seemed untouched by all that has gone on in this world. It still rose and set on schedule and glowed with the same intensity that it has been for billions of years. Erza became jealous of the sun in that moment, for she no longer could find her own sun which rose when darkness fell far too often inside her.

She headed slowly for the door, each step sending waves of pain through her body, but her face stayed unmoving as if it didn't even exist. It was, in fact, the only proof to her that she was still alive, the excruciating shockwaves that were sent up her nerves with each careful step. She laid her hand on the doorknob and took as deep a breath as her body would allow, softened her face, and stepped out into the hallway.

"Juvia is right," she thought to herself, "As the master, I have no right to be anything but strength and hope to everyone. What's left of the guild would not survive without it."

Erza slowly walks down the hallway into the living room and turns right into the kitchen. The whole house is beginning to gain an orange and yellow light that spreads across each room as evenly as the slats covering the windows allows the sun to shine through.

"Good morning Er-Chan." Millianna's voice softly calls from the kitchen.

Erza cleared her throat before she spoke, attempting to clear it of the grogginess of sleep deprivation. "Morning Millianna." She said calmly.

"Did you have any breakfast yet Er-chan?" Millianna asked in a voice that sounded like a sweet-toned bell in the middle of the dark.

"Not yet." She answers plainly.

"Would you like me to make you some?"

Erza pauses before answering weighing the options she had. Her body was having trouble standing, weak from not having any food, she was dehydrated, and Juvia would likely scorn her in front of the guild.

"That would be great." She said lightly, sounding genuinely appreciative.

Erza's body would begin to shake with pain and lack of strength. She took a seat at the table as Millianna lit the stove on fire and rummaged through unfamiliar cabinets looking for a suitable pan. When she found one she placed it over the stove and began going through the cabinets once again until she found plates, cups, and silverware. She set the table for the both of them and pulled ingredients out of the fridge. She placed a large container of apple juice filled three-fourths of the way onto the table. Erza struggled with a deep and equally dark part in her mind that tried to drag her calm façade away and force her into despair. She needed to keep her mind busy.

"How did you sleep Millianna?'

"I slept well." Millianna lied as even she had trouble going to sleep. She didn't want to mention that Erza's screams echoed through the house each time she woke from a nightmare and that they would wake everyone each and every time. "How about you Er-chan?" Millianna asked a bit darker knowing that Erza did not sleep well. She never did anymore.

"Well," Erza responded curtly not wanting to revisit the nightmares or reveal the extent to which they affect her.

"I'm glad!" Millianna responds spritely hoping that maybe it will cheer Erza up and affirm to her that no one else knew about her nightmares.

Not ten minutes later a large plate of pancakes was placed in the center of the table. It was impossible for the both of them to finish it even if they both had been famished. Erza almost gagged at the sight and smell of the food.

An opening of a door echoed throughout the house interrupting the quiet of the morning. Juvia and Gray soon appeared in the kitchen from behind Erza and on either side of her. They both looked at the pancakes with ravenous eyes. They both took a seat on opposite sides of Erza and across from Millianna.

"Good morning." They said in unison both with scratchy tired voices.

"Who made the pancakes?" Gray inquired right after.

"Me!" Millianna stated happily and proudly. Juvia and Gray both smiled at Millianna's enthusiasm.

"Thank you Millianna," Gray says graciously before putting a couple onto a plate that he pulled from a stack at the end of the table.

"Yes… Juvia really appreciates it." She said doing the same.

"Meow! You're welcome!"

Erza finished her first pancake and a half a cup of juice before she could not force herself to eat anymore. Her stomach was already contracting painfully with the first food she has eaten in two days. She quietly rose from the table and placed her dishes in the sink. She stopped at the exit of the kitchen.

"I'm going to check on the others." She said in a melancholy tone.

The background noise of chewing and the clanging of utensils on plates ceased at Erza's words, the house now eerily quiet before Erza's footsteps begin and fade into the hallway and up the stairs to the attic.

The attic floor was made of old, unvarnished, raw wood. The wood was still wet with the attempts to rid it of the blood that stained it two days before. There were two rows of four white sheets stained in various colors of drying blood, drainage, and earthly substances. One, however, was perfectly white and unnaturally still in the left corner of the room, raised up in the shape of the body of their master. Erza walked down the middle of the two rows looking at the people who lay under the sheets watching the slow rise and fall of each one of them to make sure everyone was alive. She stopped at the end of the row on the right side of the room. Wendy laid at the very end sleeping peacefully on her back. Charle curled up next to her and Happy kept his tail wrapped around Charle's. The next white sheet covered the body of Natsu. Only his ruffled pink hair that was stained with dried brown blood and the black singe of grazing death. Happy was curled up on Natsu's lap and Lucy laid her head on his chest. She wouldn't rest unless she could feel Natsu breathe and hear his heartbeat. Natsu and Lucy had been asleep for two days straight, most of those in the room had been. Erza took her place kneeling on the floor in-between Charle and Happy. She gently pulled the sheet back enough to reveal his face. She didn't need to pull it back any further to know how injured he was, the sheet showed it and she had seen it. She had seen it. Natsu's body was slashed deeply diagonally across his back several times. He had a single deep slash across his abdomen. Smaller cuts covered his body.

"Come on Natsu." She whispered her eyes glittering. "We can't lose you too."

Erza's eyes glazed over staring at him and now all she could see was the recent past.

Magnolia was unrecognizable. It was on fire and the air was turned to black ash. Most of the buildings were reduced to rubble that littered the city as if it had been abandoned for centuries after a war. Civilians scattered out of the city at the arrival of the demon army but there was no warning, most of them became trapped in the city by the army. They were tortured and mutilated and fell as quickly as the buildings. The air still smelled of burning and rotting flesh. Fairy Tail was the only thing between the demons and the civilians. Damned they tried to protect them, to get them out, but there were too many demons, they couldn't handle it. They called the other guilds for backup as they desperately tried to protect the civilians left. The demons began to overpower them, they would take the civilians away one by one and mutilate and torture them in front of the guild. Their bodies were thrown unceremoniously into the rubble of the buildings. The guild fought vehemently. They fought using their emotions. Everyone screamed and cried like the shrill bells that warn of danger and death just before the soul separates from the body each time a demon snatched a civilian away from their protection. Back up from the other guilds didn't arrive till a few hours later when it was too late. All the civilians were dead, dying, or had fled. Fairy Tail and the other guilds were surrounded by the army that covered the width of Magnolia in all directions. Demons of all shapes and sizes leered at those in front of them who were injured, exhausted, and emotionally damaged from the sights they were forced to watch. The ground shook as the largest demon of the group stepped to the forward ranks of his army to address the Masters of the guilds. He laughed at the group before him.

"This sight is pitiful. You pitiful humans. You actually thought you could protect them from me. Humans will never, ever, surpass a demon." He paused and stood taller. "Kneel before your king." He said commandingly. A crown was placed on his head by a flying demon. It dripped red with fresh blood down his face. The crown was made of the limbs of civilians. The open hands of the arms lay waiting for jewels, one for each of the guild masters. Several other demons carried a staff made in a similar fashion to the king demon's crown. The master of Fairy Tail, Master Makarov, stepped forward toward the King Demon.

"You underestimate us and our will to protect our friends."

"You already failed to protect them." The demon chuckled and all the demons around him began laughing. The area became deafened with the sound of thousands of demons laughing. Fear filled the determination of the faces of the mages. The masters turned to each other before facing back forward to the king demon.

"I will not fail my family," Makarov said turning back around to face his guild. He intentionally finds Erza within the crowd and locks eyes with her. "Take care of them Erza." He said solemnly before turning to the King Demon.

"Master?" Erza questioned her eyes glittering with tears half knowing and half denying what he will do next.

Makarov began to form a bright ball of golden light in his hands.

"You will take good care of them Erza. Protect them, not with your life, but with your spirit. There will be enough bloodshed and darkness on this day."

"I promise." She said just before Makarov brought his hands together through the ball of light.

"I invoke Fairy Law." He said strongly.

A small magic circle with a golden Fairy Tail insignia shone before him and a large one opened through the clouds and ash in the sky above. All of Magnolia was flooded with a bright golden light. The demons screeched as they were scorched by the light. The sound was deafening, and the light was blinding. The spell lasted for a whole minute before suddenly the bright light disappeared and the only thing Erza could see and hear was the body of her master fall to the ground, hard. The sound of the screeching demons couldn't drown the thud of lifeless flesh hitting the ground. Her scream pierced through the sound of all the demons. The Great Titania sobbed. She dropped to her knees staring blankly ahead at the motionless body of her master. The tears in her eyes blurred her vision but through it, she saw the large hand of the King Demon reaching for Makarov's body. Erza suddenly re-quipped her black winged armor and just before the King Demon was able to touch the Master, his hand met Erza's sword as it disconnected from his body and hit the ground next to her. She stood over Makarov's body defensively and spoke with a voice full of rage and venom.

"You will never touch anyone in this guild." She looked around at the remaining demons both injured and uninjured. They kept flowing in like water through a cracked dam. They stood over the bodies of their dead comrades and trampled the ones too injured to fight. This enraged Erza further. Her eyes stopped crying and began to glow red. Her guildmates stood behind her not knowing how to handle what they were seeing. They were numb to the world. The other guilds mimicked Fairy Tail's. The other masters faced Erza with caution and empathy, save Jellal. Jellal stood in front of Crime Sorciere and faced Erza with a knowledge of her whole mind and being. He understood her better than anyone. Erza stood tall now and with glowing red eyes and a red aura forming around her dark black armor she extended her wings high above her and she flew up to the eye level of the King Demon and twirled slowly around in the air to the swarm of demons around them.

"None of you will ever touch them!" She screamed her voice easily carried to the back ranks of the army. She faced the King Demon again.

"I will never let you harm my family, and for that, it will be by my blade that you fall." She said strongly.

She flew at the King Demon sword extended and all the guilds took a direction and began to fight through the ranks of demons. Row by row of demons they fought hard and long. Jellal had activated meteor and flew to back up Erza. They fought together as if they had always so. Everyone poured their heart out into this fight and it lasted for hours before they started falling. Demons never ran out of curse power, and it seemed as if they never ran out of demons either. No matter what dent was made into the army it always filled back in, quicker than it had been taken out. Few were left with magic or physical strength to fight. They were being overcome and quickly. Erza had seen it and so had Jellal. They looked at each other with understanding. They needed to end this and now, before there was no one left to save. They backed away from the King Demon closer to their guilds.

"If we can just take him out Jellal…That's our only chance." Erza said in exasperation, her own magic beginning to run low.

"I know," Jellal said softly and comfortingly. "Don't let them put out your light Erza. It will be the thing that will guide everyone to the right path."

"Jellal?" Erza asked confused before her eyes widened as he took off toward the King Demon. "Jellal?! What are you doing?!" She cried out to him chasing after him.

I'm sorry Erza, Jellal thought to himself as he went for the demon, intending to complete a self-destruct magic circle that he had begun throughout the fight.

Erza stumbled in the air, slower than usual and unable to maintain an even speed and altitude with her magic faltering. The King Demon was too quick for the pair of them in their current states.

"Disintegrate," He spoke with an evil smirk as he watched Jellal begin to dive head first toward the dove after him catching him just before he hit the ground and placing her body down toward the earth. They slid through the rubble for a few yards before they came to a stop. Jellal's body had begun to crack open like parched earth in a drought. The cracks were pure black, and his body slowly broke up into smaller and smaller pieces that lost their color and turned pitch black as they floated into the wind like ash. It began at his feet and moved upward toward the rest of his body. As Erza gained her bearings once again after the crash landing, the curse had already reached his upper torso and his neck began to crack like old paint on porcelain. Her eyes were wide with fear and disbelief as she stared into Jellal's calm eyes.

"I love you, Erza." He said sweetly as his neck was claimed to the wind and his head began to crack open. For the first time, Jellal did not want to die. It would be in vain. He didn't complete the circle, and now he couldn't. He couldn't protect his light and he would never be able to spend his life with the woman he loved. He would give anything, to not leave this world now. Erza couldn't speak. She was too distraught. "…I…." She began to speak but, before she could continue, Jellal's face had been completely claimed by the wind and the ash of his body floated around in the air, indistinguishable from the burnt pieces of their city that flowed through the air swirling in patterns that would have been considered art if they didn't contain the lives of friends and the safety and memories of their home.

Demons began to swarm Erza. She stayed in the indented Earth, staring blankly ahead, watching as all her friends began to fall one by one, like the civilians. She watched the desperate efforts of everyone to protect the fallen bodies of their family and their friends. She watched the pieces of ash floating through the air wondering which were pieces of Jellal, in disbelief that she had lost not only her Master, but Jellal as well. A single tear streamed down her face as she was lost to the shock and the grief of the events of today and the hopelessness of the future. Her magic was gone, this was likely her end as well. As the demons closed in on Erza, they were suddenly stopped by a dome made by seven magic circles. Erza looked up shocked to see her and the demons separated by magic that felt so much like Jellal.

"Jellal?" She questioned aloud.

The magic circles began to shrink and form into a glowing set of armor. The armor was formed from the aura of the magic circles and was a bright gold that shone through the haze of the smoke and ash. The joints of the armor were black but sparkled as if they contained a small portal to other sections of the universe. Erza stood and stepped into the armor and it formed around her body. In her right hand, a golden katana formed. The center of the blade resembled the joints of the armor.

Erza let her last tear fall before her eyes turned to that of determination as she remembered what Jellal had said to her earlier, "Don't let them put out your light Erza. It will be the thing that will guide everyone to the right path." She was not going to give up on her friends. This wasn't the end as long as she could still fight.

"Requip… Queen of Balance." She said strongly giving her armor a fitting name.

It glowed brighter in response and the power emanating from Erza rivaled that of the 12 Wizard Saints. The whole battlefield stopped and turned toward Erza as smaller golden and galaxy swords began to appear in the air around her. There were thousands and with one motion of her arm they flew at meteor speed at the demons between her and the King Demon and behind her to the demons between her and her friends. The demons were killed on impact and fell to the ground creating a patchwork of demon bodies that resembled old, broken bricks of a road.

Erza headed for the King Demon, walking on the bodies of the demons. The King Demon looked all but sympathetic for the lives of his comrades. In fact, he looked amused with the new found strength of the red-haired mage.

"A fight between a King and Queen… How intriguing." He spoke with a smile.

Erza did not respond, infuriated and filled with revenge.

The next thing that could be seen was golden streaks flying through the air and leaving gashes on the King Demon's body. He flailed instinctually from the surprise and excruciating pain of Erza's attack. His hand hit Erza and propelled her to the ground. The sound of the impact boomed through the tense air. Both humans and demons, watched with fear and anticipation respectively. Erza's armor, fueled by her emotions and Jellal's fading magic, began to flicker. She stood shakily, she could not take many more hits with the power she had left and the power she needed to use. The demon looked down upon her and smirked as he took his foot and raised it a story tall and began to trample her. Erza screamed in pain as the foot was raised each time for another hit. The demon army laughed in unison as Erza's friends watched in horror as they heard her scream aloud and watched the light that had once emanated brightly from her armor dim and flicker. Erza knew she did not have enough fight in her to continue after this. She waited for the demon to raise his foot again. Her armor left her body and transformed into multiple small ninja stars. As the King Demon's foot began to lower itself down again, the ninja stars shot through his body at meteor speed. They sliced his body with ease dissipating as soon as they exited the other side. The King Demon's eyes filled with fear of the unknown and anger toward the Red-haired woman who lay exposed and broken before him spoke one last word before the life left his eyes.

"S-s-slice."

As the King Demon's body fell to the ground, the thud it made was covered by a familiar scream. Erza's body began to open up in increasingly deeper and larger cuts as if someone was dragging whips over her body in every direction, repeatedly. The guilds began running for her. Wendy and Natsu lead the rush to Erza.

"We did it Jellal. They can live in peace now and I can die in peace…I'll join you soon… I hope this made you proud." Erza thought before her mind went completely black.

Wendy and Natsu made it to Erza first. Wendy immediately and fearlessly plunged into the pool of blood that surrounded the chopped flesh of her comrade that was unrecognizable as Erza besides the chunk of red hair that lay where her head should be. She poured her healing magic into the fleshy pile all at once. She drained what was left in her in one shot. It was enough to bring Erza's cardiovascular system and most of her tissues back together, but she was left with deep gashes that poured the blood that Wendy had just restored. Natsu stood in shock as Wendy collapsed next to Erza and was slowly covered in Erza's blood. The rest of the guilds arrived. They all gasped as they saw Erza and Wendy together in that crater. Some eyes began to fill with tears as hands were raised to cover open mouths. Juvia, Gray, Mira, and Millianna rushed to Erza's side without a gasp and without tears. They feverishly began to stop the bleeding. Gray had to shake Natsu back to reality so that he could heat up a broken piece of Erza's sword. The used this to cauterize the wounds to stop the bleeding before Juvia began CPR to bring Erza's body back to life. It took 8 long and drawn out minutes for this all to complete. Erza took a weak breath and had a weak radial pulse. She was alive. Everyone took a fallen comrade, dead or alive, and carried them to the nearest shelter they could find that was still standing, Erza's house.

-END OF CHAPTER 4-


	5. Chapter 5

Erza snapped out of the flashback and hugged Wendy's unconscious body.

"Thank you, Wendy. My job isn't finished yet." Erza whispered shakily as her voice broke about to cry in shame of herself. She had given up, you do not sacrifice yourself for your friends. Makarov told her that before he died. How did she keep forgetting that?

"Don't cry Erza." A familiar croak of a voice spoke behind her.

"Natsu?" Erza questioned as she turned around to see Natsu's eyes open and staring questioningly at her.

"Don't get up just yet. You need to let those wounds heal." She said clearing her voice and talking to him like a mother.

He nodded and craned his neck to see Lucy's sleeping figure on his chest. He looked at Lucy and back to Erza as in questioning how she got there.

"She wouldn't sleep unless she could feel you breathe. We were all worried about you." She said evenly.

"Worried about me?" Natsu smiled widely. "I ain't going anywhere anytime soon!"

Erza chucked. "That's quite right. Those wounds need to heal so you won't be going anywhere anytime soon."

Natsu frowned and sighed.

"Get some rest Natsu. I'm just glad you're alive." She smiled sincerely and ruffled his hair before pulling his sheet up on him again.

She turned back to Wendy, whose eyes were fluttering and opened wide with fear.

"Erza?! Is she okay?!" Wendy shouted loudly shooting up and looking around frantically.

Erza sat before her shocked by her first words as a blurred Wendy was the last thing she saw, but she thought it was a dream.

"Still alive thanks to you," Erza said calmly and set a firm hand on Wendy's shoulder.

"Oh, Erza… I'm so glad…I wasn't sure it would be enough… You were…"

Erza interrupted her.

"I know, and it was enough. That's all gone now." Erza said reassuringly. Her voice darkened. "I cannot thank you enough..."

"You're family Erza, you don't have to thank me." Wendy smiled.

Erza nodded. "Anything I can get for you two?" she asked as their conversation began to wake up others in the room.

"I'm starving!" Natsu said enthusiastically causing Lucy to stir. Natsu put his arm over her back protectively and she stayed asleep.

"Pancakes okay?"

"Great!" They said quietly in unison.

Erza headed back downstairs and returned with two plates of pancakes. Natsu had a large stack and Wendy a small one. Natsu seemed to inhale the plate and even Wendy ate rather rushed. By the time they had finished, Mira had come upstairs to begin morning rounds and everyone in the attic began to wake as Mira began to change their bandages and clean their wounds. Erza used the excitement to slip away and down the stairs into her room. She quietly turned the lock on her door and laid back on her bed propping her back up with the headrest of the bed. Erza's wounds were the worst of all. Although Wendy had managed to heal her enough to keep her alive, her cauterized wounds were scarred. They were infected and some had reopened themselves and oozed blood and drainage. Almost none of her skin wasn't marked by some sort of bruise or cut. She looked down at her battered body seeing the drainage seeping through the bandages and she glanced up to the mirror across from her that showed her face. Her red hair brought out the black and blue colors of her bruised and slightly swollen face. It did not even phase her. She was only glad that some of her friends were still alive. How to keep them alive was the issue on her mind.

"What are we going to do?" She thought to herself.

"Jellal?! What are you doing?!" Echoed in her mind after.

No matter how hard she tried to keep her mind toward the plans to save her guild, her mind just fluttered back to Jellal. She knew they couldn't stay here forever but as the hours went by, if she didn't stay forever, that was okay.

As the injured continued waking up through the day, Mirajane, Millianna, and Wendy tended to them. Gray and Juvia began to clean up the house. Everyone slowly trickled down from the attic as their wounds were tended to and they were deemed healthy enough to walk around by Mira. The house was sparkling clean by the end of the day. As the sun was setting plates began to be placed at the table and the smell of fresh dinner began to fill the air in the house. Erza heard the table being set and the combination of many voices speaking lightheartedly in the dining room. She forced her body up once again, finding it only the least bit easier since she had eaten. She unlocked the door and walked out into the hallway and into the living room where she watched everyone interacting at the dining room table from the corner. Everyone seemed free of their wounds except for Wendy and herself. She walked into the dining room and took a free seat at the table. As soon as the group had noticed the deteriorated body of their new master, the light mood was lost to silence. Erza's eyes were still sunken, her hair was dirty and strewn in stiff directions in knots. Her bandages that showed were not white in any single area. They were all soaked with blood and drainage. Her face was sunken, cut, and bruised and no matter what face or fake smile she tried to put on, her eyes showed the despair she felt inside. The state of their now master only reminded them of the horrors of the past days and the disaster that may very well come in the near future.

Everyone ate in silence. Erza did not want all her friends to bear the weight of her own despair so she attempted to lighten the atmosphere once more. Her chest felt unexplainably heavy. She knew her injuries had to be extensive if her skin and the bandages could tell her anything. Perhaps that's why it felt as if every time she took a breath it was forcibly pushed out of her quicker than her body could harvest the oxygen from it. Each inspiration was more painful than the expiration. She felt as if the air was being shoved into a container that was already filled and didn't have any space left. She wore a fake smile and forced her body to comply to provide a light and happy tone. Her chest seemed to close down further allowing less oxygen in as she spoke through gasps that she covered with her voice.

"What did everyone do all day?" Her voice was strained sounding to the room, but the effort it took to speak and smile was hidden under Erza's skin. Wendy easily recognized Erza's attempt to bring the mood up. Wendy smiled innocently and spoke in her usual sweet tone. She had looked up to Erza for these years since she joined Fairy Tail and had begun to take after some of her abilities. She was almost more adept at hiding her emotions than Erza. The conversation slowly began to become livelier in only a few short minutes. The dining room now sounded like the guild had on a quiet afternoon when meals were shared with drinks. Threats and stories were equally thrown around with smiles and glares. Wendy and Mira, however, would detach themselves every few minutes to glance at Erza. Their eyes burned into her with scrutiny and concern.

The food that was once plentiful had disappeared into the happy faces of those around the table. Everyone was either cleaning up the table, telling a story, or scrounging the nearby living room for some form of entertainment. Natsu found a stack of cards and soon the table little house had become as rowdy as the guild had when a storm blew over and all of them had been stuck with each other's company for hours. Erza slipped away in the commotion as she did not share an ounce of happiness and the strain on her body to appear well had begun to take over. She made her way upstairs to where all the wounded had been this morning, still and quiet. The room had been tidied and made clean. There were no more wounded. Only the still white sheet in the corner still remained in the room. Erza glanced over to it and bowed before laying herself down in the opposite corner. Her body was exhausted. It could not go on anymore today. As she laid her body on the floor she began to shiver in small intervals. By the time her eyes had shut, and she had fallen asleep her body shivered with force and it did not stop.

"No one will notice my absence or find me here…" She thought as she drifted off into the darkness of unconsciousness.


	6. Chapter 6

A few hours passed, and the novelty began to wear off downstairs. Wendy noticed Erza's absence and slipped away to Erza's room. She knocked gently and whispered through the door: she heard nothing and received no answer. Concerned, she returned to the living room to draw Mira's attention. Wendy entered the now quiet living room with worry upon her face. Natsu was drawn to her approach first.

"What's wrong Wendy?" He asked loudly but innocently.

Everyone turned to look at her.

"I cannot find Erza." She said quietly and everyone in the room turned their head in all directions as if expecting her to be sitting quietly on the edges of the room watching over them, but they saw only the walls and furniture beyond them. Their faces turned into grim worry altogether and Natsu shot up from the couch and yelled as loud as he could.

"ERZA!? Come and fight me!"

"That'll definitely get her to come out…" Gray said condescendingly toward Natsu and they exchanged harsh looks before Mira intervened.

"Let's all just find her." She said as she stuck her arms in between them and pushed them apart.

Everyone took off in different directions, warily looking at the boarded windows and doors to see if they had been tampered with knowing that even if they were, Erza was smart enough to not let it show. The noise of opening doors to rooms and closets and the rustle of moving of furniture and curtains filled the silent house. Each resounding echo of the curtains slowly finding their new resting place, the furniture scratching back against the floors, and doors once opened with promise now closed with hallow emptiness. The seconds seemed to drag by slower as each room was searched, and nothing was found. They all began to fear the worst. Erza had gone on her own. They knew she would be the one to do so. She gave herself the opportunity and they all fell for it. She had left them to face the demon on her own. No one doubted that she would, until a call echoed from the attic.

"I found her! Wendy you better come quickly!"

Mira had climbed the attic stairs that everyone avoided. It was a place of resting for the dead now. Mira knew that Erza would not be afraid to climb those stairs. Erza saw her master die in front of her; she was not afraid of the death everyone else felt. She only felt her master, her only parent figure. When the attic came into view Mira saw nothing amiss until she turned her head around to view the corner Erza lay in. She found her curled into a ball, every muscle in her body spasmed relentlessly and randomly trying to create as much heat as it could. Her bandages that still retained white edges now were soaked through with discharge and fresh blood. The shivering tore open each and every wound she had.; the boards of the attic had crimson streaks running down the grooves in the wood. Her clothes were no longer a single color as the blood and discharge of the wounds mixed together with the blue and white coloring of her skirt and shirt respectively. She looked like she would soon join Death. Her whole body was pale and clammy. Her lips and nails had a purplish-blue tint. Mira called down to the others before hurrying to Erza's side. She put her hand on her shoulder, shook her lightly, and called her name, trying to rouse her. She received only the sound of Wendy's small feet dashing up the stairs.

"She won't wake and she's burning up Wendy" Mira said gravely. Everyone else's footsteps followed quickly up the attic stairs. Mira quickly shooed the men downstairs and had them bring supplies, so they didn't feel useless; the women who remained helped undress Erza and clean and bandage her wounds since Wendy's magic had not yet returned enough to heal Erza.

Mira, Juvia, and Wendy carefully removed Erza's clothes as the other girls cleaned up the area around Erza and brought over the supplies the boys had found downstairs. They then began to carefully tear away the bandages. Her body had begun to grow into the two-day-old gauze; The more of the bandages that were stripped away from her, the more wounds bled with a new force and oozed the infectious discharge that smelled like rotting flesh. Erza's unconscious face contorted in pain as her new skin was ripped out of the wounds with the dirtied gauze. She was in terrible pain and everyone in the room shared it with her. Everyone worked in silence to debride the wounds of the necrotic and infected flesh, irrigate them, and cover them with fresh bandages working their way from the smaller cuts to the larger gashes. The largest wounds were on her back, he abdomen, and her side. One large bandage that looked hastily wrapped around her torso covered most of each of the slashes that tore deep into her body. They slowly cut the bandage and began to remove it in small pieces. As they tore it away from her body, throughout the bruising on her pale white skin were clear and sharp lines of red and black that emanated from the edges of the gash across her stomach. They seemed to reach to all the surrounding gashes trying to connect them. Wendy activated the small amount of magic she had to try to push it back just a little. They needed time and it seemed to grow by the minute.

"I can't do anything about this, it's some sort of poison I've never encountered. My magic won't work and it's already in her bloodstream" she said out of breath.

"It's okay Wendy" Mira comforted her with a hand to the shoulder.

Wendy nodded, but no one in the room spoke again. They all knew how this ended. It was written into Erza's skin already.

They finished caring for the wounds as much as they could and then laid a few white sheets over her body. Juvia took to washing her hair and ridding it of the knots. She sat silent at Erza's head with a bowl of soap and water that she had placed under Erza's head. She slowly and kindly combed away the knots and washed the grime and sweat from the hair. After she was finished she placed a clean pillow under head and sat by her side. Mira had forced fever pills down Erza's throat; the shaking of her body had ceased, but the heat of her fever produced apt amounts of sweat. The girls took cool cloths to her body to wipe it away. By the time her temperature had settled, and the area was clean, the night had already turned into early morning. It was still dark, but the dawn began to threaten the darkness. They allowed the men upstairs and everyone surrounded her patiently waiting for her to wake up. The girls however, were only hoping that she would wake.

The morning came streaming through the window with an unwelcomed brightness. The darkness of the night seemed to linger in the room and the sun was an intruder. The light streams seemed to dance weightlessly around the world, never ceasing to be warm and bright but the world, it changed. It saw darkness and light every day. It would be cold when winter came and even some summer days were chilled and gray when clouds covered the sun's rays. Now everyone in the room despised the sun and its display of light. It wasn't bright enough and was too bright at the same time. It couldn't drive the darkness from their guildmate, it couldn't keep the darkness from creeping into the world, it couldn't brighten their souls, so why should it shine at all? Their tired eyes squinted as the light grew stronger with the passing hours of the morning. It wasn't until the afternoon when Erza's eyes opened to see the eager faces of her friends surrounding her from above.

"What's wrong?" She asked attempting to sound authoritative, but it was lost in the quiet croak of her voice.

"Why didn't you tell us Erza?" Wendy asked quietly the question on everyone's mind.

At first, she was confused until she became aware of her surroundings and the new condition of her bandages. She looked away from them ashamed.

"I honestly don't know..."

"Being stubborn doesn't fix infections… You have to let one of us know next time" Gray said softly to her. Juvia held back her anger for now. She didn't want to share what the girls knew with everyone. For now, they would have the bliss of ignorance and hope.

"I know…I am sorry everyone… I don't know what came over me" she said, the shame in her tone audible. She looked uncomfortable, but she had not the power to sit up.

"It's okay Erza! We all make mistakes" Natsu said encouragingly with his classic smile. Erza nodded to him and the mood lightened.

"When did it get so cold in here?" Erza asked casually trying to keep the conversation going. She was afraid of silence now because you hear more than is there in silence.

"It's actually quite warm in here Erza," Natsu replied.

"That's because you're a living flame," she snapped back and everyone in the room chuckled nervously. The room fell silent again until Natsu's stomach rumbled loudly.

"Lunchtime!" Natsu exclaimed before running down the stairs; he was slowly followed by the rest of the group leaving only Wendy and Juvia to look after Erza. Erza tried to raise her body but her muscles only shook miserably as they lifted her up a few inches only to let her fall back to the floor.

"Erza, you're strong, but you are not stronger than this. This is serious," Juvia said darkly.

She pulled back the sheets and revealed the edges of dark lines coming from the bandages. Erza took them in with a deep breath and a tone void of any emotion.

"Poison."

"I can't heal it… it's laced with other magic" Wendy said shakily as if she was about to cry.

"It's okay Wendy… this isn't your fault. Do not be upset or blame yourself for this," Erza said reassuringly. She placed her hand on Wendy's to comfort her. At first it was reassuring, until Wendy realized just how warm Erza felt.

"Your fever is back," Wendy said getting up and coming back with some more fever pills and placing them into her mouth. Erza swallowed them with a contorted face due to their bitterness.

Erza could feel Juvia's conflicting emotions without even glancing over to her face. She stared at the ceiling as she spoke.

"I'm sorry Juvia." She knew she had made her feel betrayed by not sharing this with her even if she didn't even know herself. "I took too long to be dragged to my senses this time, huh?" she said in a light laugh.

Juvia was silent for a moment before she finally snapped.

"You're so stubborn! Why can't you just learn from all the times before! You're supposed to be a model for everyone in this guild and everything it stands for, but you don't even follow your own teachings! You're a hypocrite! You don't deserve to be the master of this guild!" Juvia's anger was laced with tears that dripped down her face. She breathed in as if to say more but was unable to put her anger into more words. She closed her mouth tightly, stood up, and walked to the attic stairs. Erza heard her footsteps approach the stairs and as she reached it, Erza spoke darkly and evenly. "You're right Juvia… I don't deserve to be the master of this guild. You do. You're the embodiment of everything this guild stands for and you always have been. I have not been a good master and therefore I hope you do not take after my footsteps but after those of the masters before me. I will not be here much longer, and I am no longer fit to guide this guild. I never have been. I relinquish the authority to you… and with that I also relinquish my guild mark. I have proven that I do not belong in this guild."

Her guild mark began to dissipate from her shoulder in golden sparkles that rose upward until they were no longer visible. Juvia stood at the doorway stunned at Erza's response. She had no idea how to react but she accepted it. Erza hadn't even shown any emotion. She knew Juvia was right. Surely, Juvia was right if Erza so willingly agreed with her. Juvia then hung her head and walked down the stairs. As she walked down the stairs she realized that without Erza, the guild had lost its appeal.

"Erza…" Wendy said softly.

"She's right Wendy. I was being foolish, and I wanted to die" she paused, raising her voice "I wanted to die Wendy!" She lowered her voice again. "That is against everything I am supposed to stand for" She paused again, and her tone turned grim. "I've hurt everyone with my stubbornness too many times now."

"No matter what you say Erza, you'll always be a part of this guild. None of us would have it any other way, even Juvia. She's just hurt and angry."

"You don't know that Wendy…" she replied.

"Yes, I do, because I know how Juvia feels. She is confused and feels betrayed that you would've let yourself die only because of Jellal. She feels insulted that she and the guild isn't enough for you to want to stay alive; but I know that you love us enough to stay alive for us even if Jellal isn't there. We both love you more than anything. I know how she feels because I feel the same way, but I know there has to be some reason why you felt that way. The Erza I know wouldn't be that way. Something else has to be there" Wendy responded passionately.

"And if there isn't…?" Erza said darkly.

Wendy didn't have time to respond because Natsu came barreling up the attic stairs followed closely by Gray and Juvia with the rest of the guild filing up after them. Erza quickly pulled the sheet back over her chest to hide the spreading lines but Natsu came up to her and pulled the sheet harshly out of her hands and off of her body, revealing her bruised and battered skin. Her body was mostly covered in bandages, so she had no need to cover her chest. He grabbed the arm that once had her guild mark and searched it intently.

"Where is it?! Where is your guild mark Erza?!" Natsu yelled at her, his face twisted in sadness and confusion and frustration. She stayed silent and Natsu locked eyes with Juvia; his tears threatened to overflow form his eyes.

"What did you say to her?!" Natsu hissed at her, flames igniting around his fists. "She never would have left on her own!" He was shaking with anger and confusion, torn between crying in place and lunging at Juvia.

"Natsu… I was ready to let myself die…and you know that it is not the first time that I have felt that way. I have gone against everything that I, and this guild, is supposed to stand for. Juvia only stated the truth…I have no place in this family anymore… I'm sorry" she said saddened but calmly.

Natsu sat by Erza for a moment staring at her, processing what she had said before he spoke again.

"What do you mean you were ready to die?"

Erza could see the confusion and sadness running like a wild swirling fire in his eyes. It was torture for her to watch what she had done to those she cared about.

"I wasn't thinking of all of you. I was consumed by despair for the loss of our friends, our master, and Jellal. I couldn't shake it out of my mind. Every scream and piece of dust and drop of blood from our fight has haunted me since the time it stopped. I lost sight of those who were alive because I couldn't shake the lives of the dead off of my mind. I- I'm so sorry...to all of you. I don't know why I couldn't. I tried. I'm sorry" she finished, with tears falling down her cheeks as she turned her head away from everyone ashamed.

"Don't cry Erza" Natsu said calmly, the fire in his hands going out before he placed it on her shoulder and smiled.

"You'll always be a part of this family. None of us would have it any other way" Gray said, and as Erza looked around, everyone nodded their heads in agreement, save Juvia who's head was hung low.

"Family is supposed to be there for you even if you make mistakes. It's their job to help you fix them and to get you through the hard times" Natsu added on.

"I'm afraid it's too late Natsu." Erza pulled back the bandages covering the gash on her abdomen. Short gasps were made before the room fell into silence. It covered the house like a blanket, muffling not only sound, but spirit and hope.

"I'm sorry to leave you all like this…" she said with a shiver. She laid down and covered herself back up turning away from everyone.

Gray shook his head. "For once, Erza, you should listen to flame brain."

"Hey!"

"We will be your strength. You are not going to die. We aren't losing two masters in one fight…" Gray said determined.

Erza turned around to face them again.

"I can't heal it" Wendy said innocently through tears.

"It's okay Wendy. We will find a way. We always have." Gray answered comfortingly.

Juvia walked over to Erza with tears in her eyes. She looked like she was struggling to not break down. Her blue eyes swirled like the rough seas.

"I am sorry. I was wrong. I shouldn't have ever said those things to you. I… I was just so upset… I was confused and hurt, and I didn't know what to say or think" Juvia paused as she kneeled down beside Erza. "You are my guild master and my sister, and I wouldn't have it any other way." A tear fell from her eye and hit Erza's arm that formed into a guild mark. It was two colors of blue swirled around each other.

"Welcome home Master" everyone said to her in unison.

"Now how do we heal Erza?!" Natsu yelled rather loudly causing the room to fall silent again.

"We just need ideas, anything, no matter how simple it may seem." Gray said.

"I can use my fire to keep her warm!" Natsu said enthusiastically.

"That may help to break her fever without the medicine." Wendy added.

Soon everyone was either helping Erza or coming up with ideas and contemplating their merit. Juvia left in the commotion and locked eyes with Mira when she reached the doorway. Mira walked over to her.

"I have an idea, but I will need your help" Juvia stated in a whisper.

"What is it?" Mira asked curiously.

"I might be able to adapt my water magic to clear out this poison without infecting myself, but I will need to identify it and practice containing it."

"I see" Mira replied, following her plan.

"Do you have the demon soul of one of the demons we fought?"

"Of course."

"I can use you to learn how to adapt the water to remove the poison, but if I do it incorrectly, there's an unknown number of bad outcomes."

"I follow, and I am prepared for any consequence, because I believe this is our only way to save Erza" Mira stated firmly.

"Alright. Let's get started… by the looks of her, I don't think she has any time left."

Mira noded. "As usual, I believe she is already on borrowed time."

-End of Chapter 6-


End file.
